At its Wednesday meeting, the Federal Council decided to finally grant a contribution of 10 million francs to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The Federal Council therefore split the pear in two compared to the 20 million, which was planned in the 2024 budget, but which had been contested by pro-Israeli circles in Parliament since last December.
The Federal Council announces that this contribution is intended “exclusively for Gaza to cover the urgent needs which are the subject of the UNRWA appeal for the period from April to December 2024”. The Federal Council specifies that Switzerland’s contribution to this organization “aims to provide the most urgent vital needs: food, water, accommodation, primary health care and logistics”.
In its overall assessment of the situation, the Federal Council says it relied on the analysis of the report on the UNWRA by the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, carried out for the United Nations. This report was requested following accusations against 12 members of the UNRWA, who allegedly participated in the October 7 attack on Israel. But no evidence could support these accusations.
The Federal Council notes that the Colonna report “notes on the one hand that the organization (UNWRA) has a solid monitoring system and on the other hand issues 50 recommendations to further strengthen the neutrality of the organization , particularly in the areas of communication, educational materials and the use of infrastructure.
The decision of the Federal Council is not yet completely final, since it wants to put it up for consultation in the foreign policy committees of the Federal Assembly. That of the National Council has already decided in favor of a partial payment.
The Swiss PS criticized this decision by the Federal Council: “It is incomprehensible, given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, that only part of the promised funds is paid. The PS asks Federal Councilor Cassis to immediately release the entire amount in order to prevent other people from dying of hunger.
